Srila Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja and Srila Prabhupada preaching
together in Los Angeles I am very happy that a great number of senior and
sincere disciples of Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja are coming to hear
hari-katha. We should hear about the real nature of bhakti  not the kind of
hearing in which the subject matter goes in one ear and out the other, but
truly following and getting genuine realization. Full bhakti is so high that
it is rare to find one who has realized it. We begin from the point of
sraddha, where the first and smallest fraction of bhakti manifests. We must
know what is sraddha, how it comes, and what are its effects. Keep this in
your hearts and be determined to follow these teachings.

In ancient times there was a very beautiful and qualified young boy. He
became attached to a prostitute, however, and because of that he gave up all
his wealth and position and left his wife and children. What is the nature
of prostitutes? They show affection artificially, and their only purpose is
to take money  nothing else. They do not consider whether or not a person
is qualified and beautiful. They do not want a relationship; they only want
money.

After that young boy had given all his wealth to the prostitute and she
saw that he was unable to give her anything more, she ordered him, "Do not
come to me!" And she kicked him out. The boy thought, "Oh, what have I
done?! I have made a great mistake." He was deeply lamenting and his heart
was broken; he wanted to commit suicide. He left the prostitute's house as
night was falling and entered a forest; and as he did so it became very dark
and began to rain heavily. He wanted to die, but to die is not so easy. He
lost his resolve and sought shelter to pass the night. Deep within the
jungle he discovered an old, dilapidated temple in which he took refuge. He
continued to lament and weep, wishing to give up that prostitute, but images
of her came to his mind again and again.

What
became of that prostitute? After that young boy left she
remembered, "He was so beautiful, and he loved me from his heart."
Repenting, she thought, "Oh, I have made a mistake; I should not have
kicked him out. I should go and satisfy him and bring him back."

She asked many people which way the boy had gone. She
followed him into that dark forest and, seeking protection from
the heavy rains she entered the same temple. It was so dark that
she could not see, and she took shelter in another area of the
temple. She repented and wept for that boy throughout the night, and
he was weeping for her. The next morning the two met in the
temple. They began to weep, they apologized to each other, and
they returned to the prostitute's house.

Fortunately, that
previous day was the appearance day of Lord Nrsimhadeva, and that
old temple was Lord Nrsimhadeva's temple. The couple was fasting
and not criticizing anyone  only weeping, weeping, and weeping.
They spent the night without sleeping or eating  within the
temple of Lord Nrsimhadeva. This is ajnata-sukrti (spiritual
pious activity performed without the performer's knowledge). What
was the power of his ajnata-sukrti? That boy became Prahlada
Maharaja in his next life.

How did this ajnata-sukrti occur?
Why did the boy go to the temple of Lord Nrsimhadeva on the
day of His appearance? Why did the prostitute follow him and why
did they meet there? This was the mercy of Krsna  no doubt at
all. We sometimes call such incidences accidents, but what was
that accident? There was some mercy of Krsna. We are part and
parcel and eternal servants of Krsna by constitution. Our
constitutional form is to serve Him, but being tatastha-sakti
(Krsna's marginal potency) and having come from the marginal line
(the area between the spiritual and material world), this service
has not manifest yet.

You should know that there are
many kinds of jivas. Some are coming from Baladeva Prabhu in
Goloka Vrndavana, and they are serving Radha and Krsna conjugal
eternally. They have not seen or realized this material world.
Some jivas are coming from Baladeva in Dvaraka, and they are
serving Krsna in His form of Dvarakadhisa Some are coming from His
manifestation called Maha-Sankarsana, and they are serving in
Vaikuntha. They are serving incarnations like Vaikunthesvara
Narayana, Sri Ramacandra, Nrsimhadeva and others. Finally, those who
are coming from the incarnation of Maha-Sankarsana known as
Karanadakasayi Visnu are in the marginal (tatastha) region.

We have all come from there, not from Goloka. Those who have
received and tasted the service of Krsna can never fall down. They
cannot become conditioned souls. If one has gone there by developing
bhakti from sraddha all the way to prema, how can he fall down?
There is no Mahamaya in Goloka; only Yogamaya. She will always
help the devotees, and therefore there is no question of
forgetting Krsna there.

The conditioned souls have come from
the marginal line  from the illuminated glance of Karanadakasayi
Visnu. The realized souls coming from Baladeva Prabhu, the
kayavyuha (bodily expansions) of Radhika, and also the conditioned
souls, are all parts and parcels of Krsna. Krsna has so much
unconditional love and causeless mercy towards all living entities.
He cannot tolerate to see us suffering the miseries of adhyatmika
(bodily or mental), adhibhautika (caused by others) and
adhidaivika (caused by nature and the demigods). Even if you are wealthy,
healthy, possessed of all good qualities and have a very high position,
you'll have to become old one day. All you beautiful ladies and men will be
forced to grow old, and one day you will have to die. You cannot take a
single farthing from this world; not even a hair from your head. The only
thing you may take with you is some sukrti, or pure bhakti; otherwise you
leave with nothing.

Undoubtedly, Krsna is causelessly merciful. He cannot tolerate the
suffering of His minute parts, the jivas, who are His eternal servants. If
we worldly people don't want our children to suffer, then how can Krsna
tolerate the suffering of the jivas? He mercifully descends Himself, and
sometimes He comes as His incarnations like Rama, Nrsimha, Kalki, Vamana,
and so on. Jesus Christ is also a messenger of God.

Sometimes Krsna comes
Himself with all His associates. He displays poignant and
heart-breaking pastimes as Rama, and sometimes He manifests the
pastimes of Nrsimha Bhagavan who, in a moment, killed a person who
had a boon not to die in the day or night, by any weapon or any
mantra, or in the sea, sky or land. He was killed in a moment 
because he tried to torture a bhakta like Prahlada. If anyone
commits an offence or acts neglectfully to the Vaisnavas, Krsna
will come in some way. Sometimes He sends His Sudarsana-cakra as
He did to protect Ambarisa Maharaja, sometimes He appears as
Nrsimhadeva and sometimes as Sri Rama.

Who is Sri Rama? He is Krsna Himself. What was he doing? He was bitterly
weeping for Sita, "Oh Sita, Oh Sita," and he became mad. This is such a
heart-rending pastime that everyone weeps simply by hearing it. When Svayam
Bhagavan appeared in his original form as Sri Krsna, Nanda-nandana,
Vrajendra-nandana, He performed miraculous pastimes that even Rama and Sri
Nrsimha could not do. He called to everyone by His flute-playing. He also
called the conditioned souls, but they could not hear. Even Krsna's cowherd
boy friends could not hear. Who was able to hear that flute song? Only the
gopis heard it. He is calling us all. He is sending messengers like Srila
Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja to the Western countries, telling him, "Oh, go
and call them. They should come to Vrndavana and meet Me there. If they
cannot come, I will create Vrndavana within their minds and hearts." How
merciful He is. That is why He made some rules and regulations  so that if
we can follow or even a little, we will very easily become His associates
and we can dance with Him.

Krsna appeared in the jail of Kamsa, and then He quickly left that place,
went to Vraja, and then He became the son of Nanda and Yasoda. During His
first ten years He performed all His Vraja pastimes, and after that He went
to Mathura, killed Kamsa and all his associates, went to Dvaraka, and later
enacted the Mahabharata war. In these pastimes many demons were killed and
the sadhus were saved, and if anyone hears all these pastimes, or even one
of them, Krsna may touch his heart and he will gradually attain sraddha.
Without the mercy of Krsna, there can be no sraddha  nothing is there.

I explained how Prahlada, in
his past life, through sukrti and the special mercy of Krsna, was
unknowingly led to the temple of Lord Nrsimhadeva. This pastime
was exhibited to show the power of sraddha to the people in
general. We know that Prahlada is an eternal associate of
Bhagavan Sri Nrsimhadeva. He cannot fall under the influence of
the external energy and he has no need of sukrti. It was his
partial manifestation who performed this pastime.

We see
that Drona and Dhara performed great austerities. Lord Brahma
gave them the boon that the Supreme Lord will appear as their son
and they will have love for Him in a parental mood. This boon was
given only by the mercy of Sri Krsna, and thus He took birth in
Gokula. In sastra it has been said that Drona became Nanda Baba
and Dhara became Yasoda-maiya. If we very deeply examine the mood of
the sastras and the explanations of our acaryas, however, we will
see that Nanda Baba and Yasoda are the eternal father and mother
of Krsna  with no beginning and no end. Drona and Dhara were Vasu
Gandharvas who performed worship desiring that parental mood.
Subsequently, they took birth in Vrndavana and merged into Nanda
Baba and Yasoda-maiya. Later when that lila was finished in this
world, Drona and Dhara became the neighbors of Nanda Baba and
Yasoda in Goloka Vrndavana, with the mood of vatsalya-prema for
Krsna. Nanda Baba is not only in one form. As Krsna appears in
all the universes, engaging in unlimited pastimes with all His
associates, Nanda Maharaja appears along with Him. These topics
are very confidential.

The root of all sraddha, gained
knowingly or unknowingly, is the mercy of Krsna. This mercy comes
in two ways  either by the mercy of Krsna or by the mercy of
guru. We see that Narada Rsi, by his special causeless mercy, is
much more merciful than Krsna Himself. Krsna has given him this
mood by telling him, "Go and help them." Who is Narada? Narada is
Guru, and Guru is the essence of the mercy of Krsna  the
embodiment of Krsna's mercy.

[Just as a
rain cloud extinguishes a blazing forest fire by showering its rain
upon it, Sri Gurudeva, by his rain of divine mercy, delivers the
people burning in the forest fire of material existence, suffering
the threefold miseries  adhyatmika, abhibhautika and adhidaivika. I
offer prayers unto the lotus feet of Sri Gurudeva, who manifest
when Krsna's mercy becomes thick and who is an ocean of auspicious
qualities (Sri Gurvastakam verse 1).]

The embodiment of
Krsna's mercy is Sri Gurudeva. The root of Sri Gurudeva is
Baladeva Prabhu, and Narada is an incarnation of Baladeva Prabhu.
The complete mercy of Baladeva Prabhu has become a form, and that
form is called Narada  the root of our entire guru-parampara. Krsna
ordered Narada, "Go. You can go without an invitation to this
world, to Svarga, to Brahma-loka and Siva-loka, and also to
Vaikuntha, Ayodhya, Dvaraka and Mathura. You can go everywhere. It is
My boon that you will have millions and millions of forms so that
you can preach everywhere, and millions of tongues to do
kirtana."

You should try to remember all that was explained about sraddha,
especially transcendental sraddha, and particularly
lobhamayi-sraddha.*[See endnote] You can also write it down to fix
your remembrance. That high class of transcendental
lobhamayi-sraddha depends on the mercy of Krsna and His
associates. Moreover, Krsna's mercy is dependent upon the mercy of
His devotees. Krsna will not hear your entreaties or your prayers.
However, if you satisfy a Guru like Narada or my Gurudeva, they
will tell Krsna, "Please be merciful upon this person." I know
this; I satisfied my Gurudeva.

Krsna is here; He is
everywhere, so why does He not see us? It is because He is always
engaged in Vrndavana's sweet pastimes, and forgets everything.

[The prayers of one who submits
unconditionally to this six fold surrender are heard by Sri
Nanda-kumara. (Sad-anga Saranagati, Six Fold Surrender, verse 5,
by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura)]

Narada will say, "I have
cursed Nalakuvera and Manigriva. Krsna should always remember this
and uphold my word." Brahma will remind Krsna, "I have given a
boon to Hiranyakasipu and others. Please keep my promise." Brahma
also made a request to Hanuman. "Please keep my oath; I have given
a boon to Indrajit that he can bind anyone with the nagapasa
(snake rope)." He bound Hanuman with that nagapasa, but Brahma
had also given Hanuman a boon that no one could bind him. In order
to allow Brahma's boon to Indrajit to stand, Hanuman mercifully
allowed himself to be bound by Indrajit, and then later easily
escaped.

Although Krsna is merciful, his devotees like
Narada and Prahlada Maharaja are even more merciful. Nrsimhadeva
wanted to give many boons to Prahlada Maharaja. He told him, "Any
benediction you like, you may have." Prahlada replied, "I wish
not to be given any boon. This is my request." Lord Nrsimhadeva
said, "You must ask for something." Prahlada thought, "What
should I do?" and then he replied, "Please liberate my father even
though he has offended both You and me." The Lord answered, "This
has been done already. You should ask for anything else. My
darsana should not go in vain." Then Prahlada said, "I want to
take all the miseries of the world. I want to be merciful to the
conditioned souls and take their suffering so that they may be
liberated and engaged in Your service."

How magnanimous
Prahlada is! By his mercy so many demons and their children
became bhaktas.

When mercy is bestowed by a special kind
of realized rasika bhavuka Vaisnava, one can receive
lobhamayi-sraddha. If anyone hears Sri Caitanya-caritamrta and
Srimad Bhagavatam from Sukadeva Gosvami, Srila Krsnadasa Kaviraja
Gosvami and Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, he must be delivered.
He will receive lobhamayi sraddha.

Srila Rupa Gosvami has
said "adau sraddha tatah sadhu-sanga " There are so many kinds of
sadhu-sanga. Sadhu-sanga will come first, and from this, sukrti
will come. Otherwise, sukrti cannot come. Although they don't need
anything, sadhus will go to your door and beg, "Oh, can you give
me a glass of water?" Why? It is said in the Srimad Bhagavatam:

[O my lord, O great
devotee, persons like you move from one place to another, not for
their own interests but for the sake of poor-hearted grhastas
[householders]. Otherwise, you have no interest in going from one
place to another. (Srimad Bhagavatam 10:8:4)]

It was
explained earlier that sraddha can only come by the causeless
mercy of Krsna and Vaisnavas, especially Vaisnavas. What did Srila
Rupa Gosvami mean when he wrote "adau sraddha?" In the beginning
there must be sadhu-sanga. Without this, the tendency to serve
Krsna cannot come in the heart. Those who are serving Guru can
discover what happiness comes by serving Krsna. Our transcendental
form will be realized and we will be engaged in Krsna's service.
Those who are realized, like Narada and others, can preach very
boldly and strongly to anybody.

Sraddha, the seed of
bhakti, is the tendency to serve Krsna. If we think that we have
sraddha in our hearts, but we have no tendency to serve Krsna and
His devotees, then we actually have no sraddha. Sadhu-sanga gives
us hari-katha  so abundantly and sweetly. We hear from sadhus that
Krsna is the Supreme Lord with all kinds of power, yet He was
bound by the ropes of mother Yasoda. That rope was not an ordinary
rope, but a rope made of sneha, transcendental love and affection.
Hearing all these pastimes of Krsna, from beginning to end, a
tendency may come: "I should serve Krsna like His friends Sridama and
Subala," or "I should serve Krsna like mother Yasoda and Nanda Baba," or "I
want to serve conjugal Krsna and Radhika in the mood of the gopis." A
specific tendency will come. When will it come? After serving for some time
with real sraddha, as defined in the words of Krsna, in the words of
scriptures and in the in the words of Gurudeva, a specific service mood will
manifest in our hearts. Sraddha is the beginning, and it will develop only
by sadhu-sanga.

Without sadhu-sanga (association with pure devotees) you cannot progress.
You are chanting and remembering in your houses and in your apartments, but
are you not realizing something more here? Are you inspired or sleeping
here? Have you come for wealth? No? This is good. The devotees and I have
called you, and that call has been answered by devotees who have come from
Los Angeles, England, Brazil, Germany, France, Australia, Canada and Hawaii,
and Krsna dasa (Srila Maharaja's servant and kirtana leader) is here from
India.

We have called you only
to give you the tendency to serve Krsna  but the service of Krsna
alone will not suffice. You must serve all His associates. The
Vraja-gopis are the highest, and of all the Vraja-gopis Srimati
Radhika is highest. The service of Srimati Radhika is inspiring
you. If even one of you is inspired, I will think that I am
successful in my mission.

Gaura Premanande
[*Endnote: Paramarthika-sraddha (transcendental faith) is of two
kinds: 1) sastrartha avadharanamayi-sraddha - faith which brings
about engagement in the path of bhakti inspired by the governing
principles of scripture, and 2)
bhagavat-lila-madhurya-lobhamayi-sraddha - faith which brings about
engagement in bhakti due to lobha or intense longing, arisen out
of some extreme good fortune by hearing the lila-madhurya of
Bhagavan.]

About Purebhakti

We publish in written and audio form the transcendental sound vibrations that have eminated from self realized Spiritual Masters in the line of Sri Krsna and in recent times, His manifestation as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu (1482 AD).